India Image
Operated by India's Department of Information Technology,
the government's gateway site links to the home pages of
the president, the parliament, ministries and departments,
and universities.

India
Census 2001
The main index for India's Census 2001 links to statistics
on urban and rural dwellers, literate and illiterate populations,
the working and unemployed.

Explore
India
Read more about India's rich history, from the great dynasties
to British rule and independence, provided by India's
Ministry of Tourism and Culture.

While
India has reaped great benefits from the digital revolution,
no country has a wider digital divide.

Hole
in the Wall
Learn more about NIIT's Dr. Sugata Mitra's "hole in the
wall" experiments, in which computer kiosks have been
installed in poor Indian communities, and read his theory
of minimally invasive education.

Smart
Schools
India's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
is investing in a number of initiatives to improve access
to information technologies for all, including a $2 billion
program for Internet connectivity in 100,000 schools.

Technology
Habits
Read about the media habits of Internet users in India,
collected by the International Data Corporation.

Economic
Development
The World Bank's Country Brief charts poverty reduction
and economic growth in India as well as continued challenges
for the country.

World
Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum's Global Digital Divide Initiative
for 2002 works to create public-private initiatives around
the world. As part of the initiative, chip-maker Intel
and the nongovernmental organization World Links are launching
pilot projects to introduce computers into thousands of
Indian schools and train teachers.

Literacy
The India Literacy Project, a volunteer organization founded
by an Indian nuclear scientist trained in the United States,
coordinates literacy projects throughout India, including
in rural and poor areas where the literacy rates are among
the lowest in the world.

The
Bangalore Divide
A grassroots literacy program, led by the Akshara Foundation
in partnership with leading Bangalore software companies
and the government, has recruited more than 1,500 volunteer
teachers to fan out across 300 slums in Bangalore and
aims to enroll every underprivileged child in the city
by 2003. BBC Online News, April 23, 2002

Brain
Drain
The alumni of India's world-renowned ITT Technology Institute
make up a veritable who's-who list in digital technology,
yet in recent years 40 to 50 percent of its grads have
left to pursue graduate degrees in the United States --
many never return to India. Salon.com, Dec. 6, 1999

The
Simputer
Bangolore entreprenuer Vinay L. Deshpande has developed
a handheld computer for use in rural villages in India
and other underdeveloped parts of the world. It resembles
a Palm personal digital assistant and runs on AA batteries.
San Jose Mercury News, Aug. 14, 2002

The
International Technology Gap The world's digital "haves"
and "have-nots" are concentrated, respectively, in the industrialized
and developing worlds. Many experts argue that closing the
international digital divide will require more than parachuting
donated computers to faraway corners of the globe. Most
agree the solution must start with economic development,
including reducing poverty, malnutrition and poor health.
These links explore the challenges to bridging the digital
divide, from aging infrastructure and poor telephone service
to illiteracy and poverty.

Human
Development
Every year the United Nations ranks countries by a human
development index, a composite measure of quality of health,
education and income.

World
Employment
"The World Employment Report: Life at Work in the Information
Economy," produced by the United Nation's International
Labor Organization, looks at improvements in global employment,
but it also examines widening gaps between the technologically
disconnected and the connected, and the digital divide
between men and women.

Global
Impact
The Center for Internet Studies at the University of Washington
is focused on the study of the Internet's global impact
on society and the impact of the disruptive forces often
associated with the Internet revolution. Its Web site
currently features a report on the obstacles facing countries
eager to develop IT-enabled services industries.

Real
Access
Writer Margaret Visser explores the findings of a report
by the international NGO Bridges.org, "Spanning the Digital
Divide: Understanding and Tackling the Issues," on the
failure of digital divide initiatives that singularly
focus on computers and connections. Namibia Economist,
2001

Information
Rich, Information Poor
BBC News Online probes the gap between the information
rich and the information poor, with case studies in Burkina
Faso, Mongolia, Morocco and the United States. BBC, 1999

The
History of the Technology Divide
In "Clear Thinking on the Digital Divide," the Progressive
Policy Institute places the digital divide in a historical
context, looking at changes in technology gaps over time
by examining four earlier innovations: the telephone,
the radio, the television and the VCR. July 26, 2001

Digital
Dumping
Wired News examines the issue of "electronic waste," in
which developing countries have become the dumping ground
for recycled computers from the United States and other
industrialized nations. Wired Magazine, June 3,
2002

The British Council Gets Connected
A British Council seminar on distant learning, development and opportunities focuses on education and digital
divid, computer literacy, and third world children. February 2002.

United
Nations
The United Nation's Information and Communication Technologies
Task Force is a global initiative to bridge the global digital
divide, in which members representing governments; civil
society, including the private sector, not-for-profit foundations,
NGOs and academia; and organizations of the United Nations
system have equal decision-making power.

Digital
Divide Network
Coordinated by the Benton Foundation, the Digital Divide
Network (DDN) is a clearinghouse for information, strategies
and efforts targeting solutions to the digital divide.
Its Web site is a forum for practitioners to share their
experiences with colleagues around the world. DDN looks
at the causes and effects of the divide from the angle
of technology access, literacy and learning, content,
and economic development.

Digital
Channel
The Digital Opportunity Channel is an online news channel
on digital opportunities and success stories from around
the world, a joint initiative of OneWorld.net and the
Digital Divide Network.

Information
Technology Toolkit
Bridges.org is an information clearinghouse for the international
development community, educators, policy makers and grassroots
organizations, delivering technology to improve people's
lives. A free toolkit includes information on where to
get free or low-cost computers, software and e-mail accounts
and how to develop and host Web sites for free.

Wiring
the World
The Boston Globe produced a series of feature stories
about bringing high-speed Internet and telephone connections
to countries left behind in the digital revolution, including
an undersea cable project that would lay 20,000 miles
of fiber optics around Africa. Boston Globe, July
22, 2001

Geek
Corps
Dot.com millionaire and former Fulbright scholar Ethan
Zuckerman founded a volunteer program modeled after the
Peace Corps, in which high-tech professionals volunteer
in developing countries and work with local businesses
to utilize new technologies.

Digital
Divide
This two-part PBS documentary series shines a light on
the role computers play in widening social gaps throughout
American society, and particularly among young people.
The Web site contains a historical timeline of education
technology in the U.S., interviews with professors, policy
makers and people on the frontlines of bridging the digital
divide, and strategies for integrating technology in schools.
It includes information on challenging racial and gender
stereotypes contributing to girls' and youth of color's
lack of computer know-how.

The
Indian Express
This online version of one of India's leading news dailies,
owned by the Indian Express Group, includes links to sister
newspapers, including Express Computer, a newsweekly on
India's information technology industry.

The
Telegraph
The largest circulated English-language daily in Eastern
India, the Telegraph's Monday edition includes
special features on science, computers and health.

The
Hindu
A daily since 1889, the Hindu has a readership
of more than 3 million; its main edition is printed from
Madras.

The
Times of India
The news daily, the flagship of India's largest media
conglomerate, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd., has more than
4 million readers.